She longed to be a part of that. Something solid. To be a part of a family unit again. To know there were people she could count on.

Dillon refused to allow her to help with the dishes, and instead he corralled Seth into helping with the chore while Michael returned to the living room with her.

As soon as they were away from the kitchen, Michael halted and pulled her into his arms. His lips found hers in a hungry, urgent kiss. Warm and so smooth. He nibbled at her lips and then slid his tongue between them, stroking sensually along her tongue until all she could taste and feel was him.

“It made me crazy today,” he murmured. “Knowing you were with them and I couldn’t be with you. It was the longest damn day of my life.”

“You’re with me now,” she said as she feathered her fingers over his temple and then through his hair.

“It’s fascinating. I would have imagined Dillon with his rebel image to have the long hair and you with the staid image of a country vet to have short, very neat hair.” She pulled her fingers to the ends of his hair.

“You don’t like it?” he teased.

“I do. It’s just surprising. Like you, I guess. Seth seems so quiet and focused and then you came along and it was like being hit by a tornado. And then Dillon. I can’t decide, but something tells me that you’re more of a rebel than Dillon is, and that at heart, Dillon is really a homebody.” He blinked in astonishment and then laughed. “Don’t ever tell Dillon that. He’ll take it personally that you find me more exciting and dangerous than him.”

“Well, I didn’t say that.”

“But you’re thinking it,” Michael said with a grin. “That’s good enough for me.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Don’t call me things I can’t spell.”

She laughed and leaned further into him. They were still standing in the middle of the living room, but they could be anywhere and it would be magic.

That was the word—the feeling—in a nutshell. It was magic. A miracle that she didn’t deserve but was so grateful and gobsmacked over.

Three men who seemed too good to be true. Three loyal, strong, devastating men. And they all wanted her. They wanted to make a life with her.

“I’d pay a lot to know what you’re thinking right now.” She realized she was smiling—no, beaming—from ear to ear. “I was thinking about you. And Dillon and Seth. I’m still just processing it all. It seems too good to be true.”

“Believe it,” he said just before capturing her mouth again.

Oh, but she ached. Her breasts tightened against his chest and her nipples formed hard, tingling points that begged for his touch—his mouth. Her body was awash with heat. Her skin was flushed and desire pooled low in her belly, simmering to a slow boil.

She swayed in his arms. Her knees buckled and he caught her waist, hauling her firmly against him. It seemed she’d spent the entire day in a state of heightened awareness. She wanted to make love with these men, but she was at a loss as to how.

She twined her arms around his neck and slid her mouth down his jaw line to his neck where she nuzzled and licked at the area over his pulse.

He groaned and went tense against her, his arms like iron bands around her body. His erection bulged against her belly, and she rubbed enticingly, causing sweet friction between them.

She felt alive. Electric. Coming to life after a long period of dormancy. Forgotten was the past.

Sorrow. Regret. Here, with these three men, she’d found herself again.

She turned when she heard a sound and saw Dillon and Seth standing in the doorway to the living room. Their eyes glittered, and Seth’s mouth was drawn into a tight line. She could feel their need across the room. It mirrored her own.

She glanced back at Michael and knew what she needed to do.

It wasn’t as if she had experience with this kind of thing. Honestly, the idea terrified her. What if they were appalled by what she wanted? She’d never been in such a precarious position. She felt like she was sticking one foot over a drop-off and praying for all she was worth that she found purchase.

Slowly, she backed away from Michael and her hands fluttered nervously to the hem of her shirt.

Before she lost all her nerve, she raised the material over her head and dropped it to the floor.

It seemed important to her that this first time— especially the first time—they made love for it not to be a choice between one brother and the other. Now, she was glad she and Dillon hadn’t given in to the overwhelming heat and desire between them earlier in the day.

She wanted to give herself to all of them on equal footing. She wanted to show them she accepted and wanted the three of them and not one more than the other.

When her hands dropped to the waistband of her pants, she felt the sudden inhalations around her. The brothers glanced between each other, seemingly as hesitant and unsure as she was herself.

She eased her clothing from her body in slow, unrushed movements until finally she stood naked and painfully vulnerable in the middle of the room.

Three sets of eyes burned into her flesh. She could feel the tension, hovering heavy in the air. An electric current buzzed in her ears, warmed her body to the point of discomfort Lust. Desire. Need.

They were tangible in the close confines of the room. Heavy and almost suffocating.

She sucked in air through her nose and then wrapped her arms protectively around herself as she waited for their response. She had no idea what to do next.

Seth was the first to move. He strode across the room and wrapped his arms around her as if to shield her from the world.

“You don’t have to do this, honey,” he said softly. “You have nothing to prove to us.” She shook her head. “You don’t understand. It’s what I want. Together. The first time. It seems important that we do this together, don’t you think?”

Seth turned to his brothers as if gauging their reaction. Dillon’s gaze was ablaze with lust and desire.

Michael looked a little less certain, but there was no denying the clear curiosity—and excitement—in his eyes.

Seth turned back to her and ran his hands up her hips and then underneath her breasts to cup the small mounds in his palms. His thumbs stroked over her nipples until she was twitchy with intense arousal.

“What I think is that we want you any way we can have you, and that if this is what you want, then we want it too,” he said, his voice full of sensual growly vibrations.

“I don’t know how,” she whispered. “I don’t know what to do.” Seth’s heart softened as he gazed down at the beautiful, brave woman standing in front of him. She’d risked a lot by taking the initiative. She wanted to show the three of them that she accepted them. Equally.

And to her credit, it would have eaten at him if Michael or Dillon had made love to her first, just because he would have imagined them having a bond that somehow excluded him.

This way…it might not be the most conventional, and he damn sure didn’t have any experience with multiple partners, but it was a forced reality of their new circumstances.

There were plenty of nights he remembered his parents sharing the same bed, and he damn sure didn’t believe they were all just snuggling.

He just hoped like hell he didn’t have performance anxiety issues now of all times.

Wanting to allay her insecurities, he bent and swept her into his arms. Then he turned to Dillon.

“She’d be a hell of a lot more comfortable on a bed.”

Dillon bolted into action and started down the hall to his master suite. Michael followed behind Seth as he carried Lily into the bedroom. In the center was a mahogany four-poster king-sized bed. Seth gently

set her down and positioned her so that she was in the center, but he pulled her until her legs hung over the edge.

He wasn’t going to direct a damn thing. His brothers could figure it out on their own. All Seth knew was that he wanted to make Lily feel impossibly cherished, and he planned to love every inch of her.

She was exquisitely lovely, naked against the covers, her pale skin flush with desire. He honestly didn’t know where to start. He was captivated and wanted to taste every inch of her.

Her thighs were parted just enough that he could see the soft, pink flesh of her pussy. He bent and grasped her knees, parting her further as he pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh.

Her reaction was instantaneous. She shivered and twitched against him.

He kissed his way to the soft patch of curls that guarded her femininity and then crossed to the other side to kiss his way back down to her knee.

She moaned and twisted restlessly beneath him.

The bed dipped and Michael crawled onto the mattress next to where Lily lay. Seth watched in fascination as his brother palmed one breast and then bent his head to suckle her nipple.

Lily’s hand tangled in Michael’s hair, bringing him closer, holding him there as he fed gently at her breast.

Seth lowered his head once more and slid his fingers over the lips of her vagina, pushing until they parted under his insistence.

The pink, delicate flesh called to him. He wanted to taste her. To lick every part of her until she was writhing and begging for mercy.

He kissed the softness of the inside of her thigh just a breath from her pussy. Then he nipped lightly, eliciting another full-body shiver from her.

Using his fingers to part the folds, he hovered over her clit, blowing a warm stream of air before he finally closed his mouth over it.